Kindred to part 11 of "The Fight"

Race is a clear focus in Kindred, but Butler also seems to focus in on gender roles with the abuse of the female characters in the book. Dana faces discrimination when she travels back in time, of course, as she is seen as a slave. As a female slave she is not only subject to the physical punishment all slaves experience for “wrong doings” but is also at threat for sexual abuse. Sarah and Alice are both victims of such abuse as their masters have molested them both while they had absolutely no right to deny the men of their sexual desires. Dana has not yet faced such abuse but with the unstable nature of Rufe’s character and the fact that she resembles Alice, Rufe’s uncontrollable obsession, I wonder how long it will be before he tries to take advantage of their unique relationship. Kevin helps ease the issue of race for Dana as he ignores the discrimination from their families and chooses her over everyone else in his life, regardless of her skin color. But he pushes the issue of gender in part one of “The Fight”. He treats her as a sort of slave, expecting her to type all of his stories for him and got furious when she refused. All the women in this story are treated as if it is their duty to serve their man in any way he pleases. Even Margaret, Rufe’s mother, is subject to this as she is totally controlled by her husband and her child. Alice has it worst in my opinion. Even as a free woman she loses the right to choose her own husband and as result ends up beaten and sold into slavery. Life as a slave seems awful, but life as a female slave seems unbearable.